Trump Tops Off Chicago Tower

Spire Will Never Happen, Trump Says

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The Trump International Hotel & Tower (C) rises above the city's business district August 18, 2008 in Chicago, Illinois. The 92-story hotel and condominium development currently under construction was topped off with the last of 180,000 cubic yards of concrete on Saturday, making it the second tallest building in Chicago next to the Sears Tower. When completed with its spire, it is expected to be the second tallest building in the United States.

The Donald threw down a challenge on Wednesday to the developers of the Chicago Spire -- a proposed skyscraper that is designed to be the tallest building in North America.

Trump was in Chicago for a "topping-off" ceremony at his new hotel and tower.

He said "the banks are out of money ... stone cold out of money." His new marketing pitch is that his building is financed and built while new ones like the Spire "aren't gonna happen."

The Donald, Ivanka and Eric Trump appeared at Chicago's new Trump International Hotel and Tower at 3 p.m. to celebrate the building's completion. As part of the ceremony, members of the Trump family are putting personalized hand impressions on fresh cement to commemorate the topping off.

Trump Tower Almost Finished

The family officially recognized the 92-story building's completion Wednesday, but it actually isn't quite there yet. Last month, the concrete pour of the superstructure was completed, but one piece remains undone. Next month, the real finishing touch will take place when a helicopter lifts the 200-foot ornamental spire into place on top of the building, making it just shorter than the Sears Tower.

As The Donald likes to put it, his building will still be the "tallest residential building in North America." But if the Chicago Spire is actually built on the lakefront to its design height of 2,000 feet with 150 floors, it would trump the Trump and Sears towers.

Trump Tower Rises in Chicago

With its spire, Chicago's Trump Tower will rise to a height of 1,362 feet, with its roof topping out at 1,170 feet. The top floor of the Sears Tower is 1,450 feet up, but the spire adds another 280 feet.